Phones and SIM cards

In Europe, you'll be buying pre-paid SIM cards that have a set amount of funds on them - think Tracfone in the US. There's a cost per minute for calls and text; when you run out, you can add more money to the SIM card. If you buy a SIM card in the Netherlands, you'll get a Dutch phone number (yes, you can call all over the Netherlands). When you get to Norway, you'll most likely be able to roam (higher cost per minute) though at some point the EU is capping roaming fees - not sure when that is. You could simply buy a new SIM in Norway when you get there if you like. If you won't be using your phone much, you might get away with just roaming in Norway.

Also, generally in Europe, prepaid phones (SIMs) give you free INCOMING calls (at least in my experience).

You can call the US with your European SIM but the cost per minute will be a lot more - not sure how much more. I'm not sure about text messages, but I'm sure you can figure that out with some web searching (how to send text messages from European phones to US phone numbers) - shouldn't be that hard.

You might simply look for an unlocked GSM quad band phone on eBay (must be "quad band" to work in Europe; GSM phones in the US don't always have all the same GSM frequencies used in Europe, but "quad" (four) generally means you have the four basic frequencies that work in both Europe and the US. Most smart phones tend to be quad band phones. You can probably buy a basic (used) unlocked quad band GSM flip phone for a lot less than $50 and just buy a SIM in the Netherlands. I see sample unlocked quad band GSM phones on ebay for about $20 or so. If you buy a SIM in Europe, it should be less than $29.95 and also include air time but the cost varies by country - anywhere from about $3USD to $15 USD or so. (I paid about $3 USD for one in Bosnia back in May - probably on the cheap end.)

People with smart phones can use them with WiFi and use free texting services and also use services like Google Hangouts to make free phone calls back to the US (even to US landlines).

Thanks for all the info--makes much more sense now. Will definitely look for a phone on e-bay.

Buying a SIM in each country is not the solution I'd recommend, as each time you change SIM cards your number will change as well as the costs and terms of your calling plan. It may also be difficult to top-up the phones once you've left the country of purchase.

In your situation, the iRoam phone is certainly one option. Among the benefits of that is post-paid billing (calls charged to a credit card) as well as consistent rates across the countries you're travelling. You could also look at other firms such as Cellular Abroad, Telestial, Mobal or EuroBuzz (among others). With the travel phone firms, you can either buy a compatible phone on E-Bay or Amazon and just purchase the SIM card from the phone company or use one of the phones they sell.

Your calls or texts with any of the phone options won't be "free". The costs will be determined by whichever calling plan you choose at the time of purchasing the SIM card.

I recommend a dual SIM phone, very helpful for travelling while keeping your home phone number.

Absolutely: "each time you change SIM cards your number will change as well as the costs and terms of your calling plan."

I traveled last year and my US cell phone company falsely told me my number wouldn't change. What a shock when I arrived in France, went to a Boutique Orange cell phone outlet, and discovered that all the advance bookings I had made, using my existing US cell phone number, were now inaccurate! Not only that, but my French SIM card came with a phone number only valid while I was in France, not other countries! And, if my flight to France had been delayed and I had needed to call the pickup service to notify them of a new arrival time, my phone wouldn't have worked! When I flew home, I had to beg a phone desk in the airport to call my ride for me as my then-European-enabled phone would not work in the US.

I am still steaming and vow NEVER to fall for this again.

It's well worth the additional cost of a multi-country SIM card that I can buy here in the US before I make bookings. That way I'll be able to give my European phone number for hotel, airline, train reservations, etc.

Americans (perhaps not Canadians) do have the option to use Google Hangouts in Europe to make phone calls - and also get a free Google Voice US phone number (free calls to the US from Europe on a smart phone - not bad especially if you are on free WiFi). This same US number will work in every country. It may not be ideal for Europeans who don't want to call a US phone number - a more expensive call for them - but I did use my Google Voice number last year a few times for apartment confirmations, and one apartment owner did call my US number to get in touch with me, without complaints.

(Google calls can be made to any phone and the other person doesn't need to be a Google user; you can even call landlines.)

Even if you buy a local SIM card in each country, you still have the option of using that same US Google Phone number as a consistent way to be reached wherever you are.

I've never heard of a European SIM card's phone number not working in another European country. I've bought cheap local SIM cards in Europe numerous times and used them in other countries (though when roaming that used up my credit quickly).

R and S,

Hopefully you've got all this sorted now. The iRoam solution would likely be one of your best options. I've dealt with a company they just merged with (Roam Simple), and for basic phone service (no data) it always worked well. Some of the advantages....

• Post paid billing, with usage charged to a credit card therefore no need to top-up.
• A single number (often a U.K.-based number) that works throughout Europe and provides consistent rates in most countries.
• Great customer service.
• They may offer an optional local "direct connect" number which would allow you to be accessible from home. Callers in your home area would simply have to dial a local number and the phone will find you wherever you are.
• To use this service, you can either buy the phone & SIM card from them, or just buy a quad-band GSM phone from E-Bay or Amazon, and then just buy the SIM card from the travel phone firm.

@epltd, for future reference, your number ALWAYS changes if you change your sim!

What your U.S. cell phone company probably meant is that if you keep your U.S. sim in the phone and use their international plan, the number will not change. Whether or not this is cost-effective depends on the circumstances. For a very few, short phone calls and texts, it is sometimes easier. But in general, it's better to get a local sim if you are going to be in one country for a while.

As another alternative: I now have Project Fi service, which will work all over Europe for my next trip. I'm using an unlocked Nexus 5X phone.

You can buy a local SIM on arrival in no time, even with a cheap phone (if your own is not compatible). They will ask for ID. You can top-up the pre-paid SIM in many ways, i.e. locally purchased scratch vouchers, credit card, paypal. The latter is doable online from everywhere.

Providers charge by the minute or sell plans with a monthly budget of talk time, data, SMS etc.. After you exceed the data budget, you may still get the basic speed that is good enough for text messages or apps with low data transfer.

Plans typically are good only within one country, but there are options for EU-wide plans. Roaming rates within the EU are capped to dimes and cents rather than dollars per minute of talk time or per SMS. For occasional calls or SMS it may not be worth it to change the SIM card in each country you visit. Roaming rates for data are still expensive. Norway is no EU-member. Check the small print, whether or how it is included in the plan. Roaming rates outside EU are still in dollars per minute calling and receiving.

Smartphones can use Skype, FaceTime, iMessage, Viber, WhatsApp etc.. With a local data plan or wifi you can stay in touch with the World at no extra cost. Some non-travelling friends and family of mine refuse to subscribe to these services. With "Skype-in" I can establish in a country of my choice a virtual landline phone number the locals can call at no or small cost. With "Sykpe-out" I can make calls or send SMS to landline or mobile phone numbers in most countries at low cost.